11 replies to this topic

[Dope]

I think I wrongly posted these questions in a thread in the intro section, so I'll put them here too. Any help appreciated, thanks


Should there be any illumination in the 4 rocker switches at all? Currently only the speedo lights up when the sidelights come on.

The speedo reads quite a bit below the actual speed when checked against a sat nav/other car - would this likely be due to the rolling radius of the 13" wheels over whatever the car came with? How can I fix this?

The fuel guage doesn't work it always reads empty. If I connect together the wires off the sender unit on the tank it reads full, so I'm thinking the sender may have seized having sat for 10 years. If I let the tank run to empty can I pop the sender out to free it up without mashing the gasket, or do I only do the job with a new gasket waiting in the wings?

I dont seem to be able to find bolt-in cross braces for the roll cage in the intenet - do they exist or am I best fabricating one and welding it in?



Cheers!!

[Bungle]

Should there be any illumination in the 4 rocker switches at all? Currently only the speedo lights up when the sidelights come on.

only when they are switched on

The speedo reads quite a bit below the actual speed when checked against a sat nav/other car - would this likely be due to the rolling radius of the 13" wheels over whatever the car came with? How can I fix this?

unless your 13's were fitted from new your speedo will be out, you can change the gearing on the speedo drive but it's not something i have done before to help with

The fuel guage doesn't work it always reads empty. If I connect together the wires off the sender unit on the tank it reads full, so I'm thinking the sender may have seized having sat for 10 years. If I let the tank run to empty can I pop the sender out to free it up without mashing the gasket, or do I only do the job with a new gasket waiting in the wings?

i would replace the sender and gasket

I dont seem to be able to find bolt-in cross braces for the roll cage in the intenet - do they exist or am I best fabricating one and welding it in?

do you know who made the cage ?

[Dope]

Cheers Bungle. No idea who made the cage. There's no stickers on it that I saw when decked it out with roll cage padding the other day.

It's bolt together, inch and three eighths guage.

[jackgreen91]

Sorry to hijack but I bought a new sender for about £20, for my project mini and haven't actually got it working yet. Could either of you tell me what colour wires go into it and if you've any idea why it isn't working as brand new? Maybe no earth somewhere? Is this possible? Cheers, Jack

[Dope]

From memory Jack they're brown/brown stripe but I'll try to remember to check for you tomorrow morning in the daylight.

[Bungle]

i think one is a uninsulated terminal (earth) and the other insulated (live)

[Ethel]

Brown with brown stripes? If one stripe has a tinge of green that's from the gauge; earth it and the gauge should read full if it's working.

If you want illuminated switches there is a kit available (a bit pricey) or you can have a go yourself, the illumination has it's own mini spade terminals on each switch.

Tyres shouldn't make a lot of difference to the speedo, first check the mileometer against a known distance on the road. If it's right it's a faulty speedo. If not, you have some extra info to guess what diff ratio you have.

http://www.guess-wor.../Tech/ratio.htm will help too.

[Dope]

Brown with brown stripes?

Yeah - that was ambiguous!!

It was just a thought with the lit up switches - thought there might be a quick fix. I'm getting better at knowing what's what by feel alone in the dark, and hardly ever put the hazard lights on instead of the rear demist! In time I'll swap them out for metal toggle switches anyway.

I guess an 86 city came with 10 inch wheels? What profile tyre did it have? Would be interesting to see what the difference in rolling diameter is between that and the 13's and low profiles that are on there now. 30 on the speedo is pretty much 40 in the real world. 50 is nearly 70... it seems to be a sliding scale.

[tiger99]

Careful about swapping for toggle switches. Yes, I know they are usually better made and therefore more reliable, but not so safe in an accident, however by far the biggest problem is finding one with the correct contact arrangement for the hazard flashers.

[Dope]

Good point. I imagine toggle switches and knee joints aren't friends.

[Ethel]

An 86 Mini should have 8.4" disc brakes with 12" wheels, 13" tyres can actually be a slightly smaller rolling radius due to the tyre profile. If there's that much error it's usually the diff ratio. Or perhaps the speedo, There aren't many taller final drives than the City and transplants from Metros etc. with bigger wheels, will make the speedo overestimate your speed.

[Dope]

Talking to my girlfriend last night about this (who says romance is dead?!) and she remembers checking the speedo when the 13's went on. At the time she also had a Landy pickup with MAAAHOOOOSIVE tyres and she had that and the Mini checked against a Granada. And Granadas never lie as we all know.

The Landy was out by a country mile, but the Mini was pretty much acurate still.

So somehow, in the 10 years the car was sitting unused, maybe the speedo has developed a fault?

Edited by Dope, 28 November 2012 - 03:28 PM.